'Robin Hood' giveaway banker jailed

A "Robin Hood" banker who stole 340,000 dollars (£214,000) and apparently gave it all away to needy customers has been sentenced to a year and a day in jail.

Patricia Keezer, 53, embezzled cash over an eight-year period while managing a bank branch near Detroit, US, giving customers 2,000 dollars (£1,257) at a time for mortgage payments and other worries.

District judge Marianne Battani imposed a more lenient sentence than prosecutors wanted, stating that the thief was "like a modern day Robin Hood".

But she added that the days of stealing from the rich to give to the poor were "long over".

Keezer's crime spree ended last year when the embezzlement was uncovered. Authorities said she covered her tracks by falsifying records and covering stacks of one dollar bills with 100 dollar notes during audits.

Prosecutors demanded a two-year sentence, claiming that the story of charitable thieving was "implausible".

But defence lawyer Raymond Cassar argued that there was no evidence that any cash had been spent on personal luxuries.

He said: "She didn't use it on herself. She didn't bury it in the ground. She didn't give it to her husband. She gave it away. It's believable."

Judge Battani rejected Keezer's attorney's request for a sentence of home confinement.

But she did impose the minimum sentence available for a convict to earn time off for good behaviour - a year and a day in jail.